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Replying to myself again.. Just had an hour's practice ( was supposed to be half an hour, but I was enjoying myself..lol)I did some scales to warm up, reviewed all of book 2 and the last pieces of book one, then decided to spend last 5 mins to start Light and Blue .

That was the mistake that had me sitting at the piano for another half hour. I love this piece too, a lot easier to play than it looks, only took 15 mins to memorize. However its addictive, once you get into the swing it is very hard to stop playing.

_________________________Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness. Maya Angelou

That was the mistake that had me sitting at the piano for another half hour. I love this piece too, a lot easier to play than it looks, only took 15 mins to memorize. However its addictive, once you get into the swing it is very hard to stop playing.

Maybe if you work on perfecting the final bar..... (It's a pretty definite "the end" sound)

Hi all. I've been struggling with Chopin Op. 10 Etude for several days now, and can't seem to get through it without plenty of pauses and note errors. Does anyone have any advice on how to approach it?

Is anyone else having a hard time with Plaisir d'Amour? The 3rd line on Page 2 is driving me NUTS!! It just doesn't sound right. I just listened to it a couple of times on the (horrible) CD, so maybe that will help. I'm going to try singing it a few hundred times before I try playing it again.

I'm so excited because I'm finally starting to learn 'night song'. I remember hearing this song on youtube when I first starting learning piano a year and a half ago. I've been anxious to learn it ever since then, but I didn't want to skip ahead to it.

Anyway, my question is, does anyone know who the composer of this song is. It doesn't say in the book. I'm assuming this is a simplified version of the real version, and I just wanted to take a look at it.

molto_agitato
Full Member
Registered: 04/05/09
Posts: 162
Loc: Washington State

As far as I know, songs such as this one that appear in Alfred books without being credited to a composer were written specifically for the Alfred series (the exception being anonymously written folk songs and the like). "Night Song" was probably written for the express purpose of providing practice with first inversion chords. I'd say that Willard Palmer is the likely composer. Still, I think it's a charming piece, and even if it was written for a method book, it still seems like "real" music to me!

I haven't posted in here in a couple of weeks, as I got sidetracked entertaining grandchildren and various other summer activities. Just wanted to report a tiny smidgen of progress on "La Bamba". I can now plod through the first seven measures, LOL. Not musical at all, but recognizeable. That's progress, since when I first picked it up it was totally incomprehendable to me. However, I just listened to Undone's rendition at the beginning of this thread. I recommend checking it out - it's awesome! Maybe in another three years I can come close to playing it like this.

Well, I've put aside "Solace". I can't say that it's polished yet, but I think it's as good as it's going to get right now, and I'm so tired of it. I will pick it up again some day.

So "La Bamba" is the only piece I'm currently working on from Book 2. I'm also working on several pieces from the "Greatest Hits" and "Pop Songbook", some of which are easy and some of which are challenging me a bit. I'm also working a bit with my Faber Adult book which I have ignored for several months. It has some nice pieces in it.

I spent some time with La Bamba, then decided to ignore it and went on to do many pieces past it in a very short time...also heard others say the same thing about it not worth the time if it doesn't click immediately.

I found La Bamba difficult - didn't make any musical sense to me at first because I had such a hard time getting the rhythm right. My teacher even suggested I might want to forget it if I really hated it. But I persevered, & I think I learned a lot about rhythm from it. I hope to play jazz eventually, & I thought if I couldn't figure out something relatively simple like La Bamba, I was doomed.

I actually like the music - I had the Ritchie Valens record when I was a teenager. (Yes, I'm that old). But, the piece is over my head. Yes, the pieces in the AIO Book 2 are starting to be mostly over my head. I'm definitely not a prodigy. So I have to take them apart bit by bit and learn them slowly - kind of like someone with much more talent than I have would learn Chopin. LOL But I do want to learn it, although if it frustrates me too much I might skip over it and come back another time. In the meantime, I have supplemental books and the Faber Adult book where I can find things to learn that are a little easier. And I've been listening to Undone's playing of the piece at the beginning of this thread, just to remind myself of what it's supposed to sound like.

I remember the Ritchie Valens version too (& I remember being devastated when that plane went down!) Wish I'd known the Undone clip was there when I was learning it! I had a few versions out of the library, but they were mariachi stuff & no help at all. & I still don't play it as fast as Undone. When I was learning it, on the advice of my teacher, I set the metronome @ 72 & then played it @ half that (counted eighths as quarters) for a week or two till I figured out how the RH/LH worked together, then started speeding it up. There wasn't much hands-separate, except for short little patterns & phrases, because individually each hand sounded mostly like nothing. Now, the rhythm seems perfectly obvious to me - just one little phrase that I sometimes hit a wrong note in - & I enjoy the interplay btw RH & LH.

Keep at it - it'll all come together eventually.

I find some of the tunes in Alfred 2 book really, really difficult, but then I'll hit one that seems really quite easy. So I guess it's just some kind of personal resonance. For example, someone a couple of weeks ago said asked if Sakura made sense to anyone, but Sakura's one that I found dead easy - I'm working on that section right now, & when I get frustrated with Waves of the Danube or something, I play Sakura to reassure myself I'm not hopeless.

I need to find some supplemental music I enjoy. The stuff I have is getting old.

As far as book #2, I've finished Down in the Vally and am working on Bridal Chorus. I've looked ahead in the book and the songs don't look thrilling, but I'm going to keep at it. It's the best way I can think of to learn. Can't wait until I finish book #3! Ok, that's a longgggg way off.

Hi, GracieCat, welcome to book 2. Down in the Valley was an easy one, and Bridal Chorus isn't bad either. I think Guantanamera comes next, and I struggled a bit with that one. Actually, most of them are a bit of a struggle to me right now, but it's fun working through them.

Carol, you are right. There wasn't much point in trying La Bamba hands separate. It works for some pieces, but not this one. I'm not ready to put it to the metronome yet. The metronome confuses me unless I pretty much can play the piece through without mistakes, and then I just use it for a while to make sure the timing is right. Right now it's moving my hands to the right places that I'm having trouble with. LOL

Hey everyone, I just got back from my lesson and I have "officially" started Book 2 so here I am!

I still have to polish up a couple things on The Entertainer (smoothness) and Amazing Grace (timing in one measure) but my teacher assigned me Guantanamera (gulp). He said we would skip over the first two because he said they are too basic for where I am at skill-wise but I am going to do them on my own anyway just for the practice.

It's nice to join familiar fellow Alfred devotees and continue on my journey. Now that the numbers of us moving up are increasing maybe we can keep this thread on the first page?

No practice tonight, the wife and I are off to see George Thorogood in concert.